A Convergence of Perspectives: Enhancing Students ’ Employability by Becoming Members of the Same Team

Universities are challenged to equip graduates with transferable key generic skills for use in varied contexts within ‘real’ workplace environments; that is, to ensure the development of diversified graduates who are ‘work ready ’ for the twenty-first century. Therefore, it is critical for students to be able to identify and articulate their ownership of generic skills and recognise their implementation potential in the workplace. The existence of diverse work teams, consisting of individuals with culturally distinct attitudes, behaviours, expectations and demands, is synonymous with 21st century workplaces. Thus, business employers recently have placed stronger emphasis on teamwork skills as being essential for entry-level employees, due largely to the economic imperatives of employment and accelerating workplace changes. The use of teamwork, along with other strategies, can substantially improve an organisation’s competitive edge, performance and profitability; however, for workplace teams to realise their potential it is vital that teamwork skills are well-developed. Descriptions of how teamwork is conceptualised from the perspectives of graduating business students in a Western Australian university, and Australian business employers are presented as the basis needed to establish greater alignment between academic and employers ’ perspectives for developing ‘work-ready ’ graduates. A mixed methodology was utilized to capture research participants ’ perspectives and experiences of teamwork in the workplace and within the context of university. Key words: student teams, work-based teams, teamwork, employability skill